For some unexplainable reason, I've been a bit preoccupied lately with the memories of a couple of the BIG families I grew up with in Miles City.

I guess a reason why is because on a good day I can still name all of the children in the order they were born...I'm not sure how good a day today is for that, though, so I'll give it a shot on this forum and I'd like to ask for the help of anyone who can either correct me or help me out if I'm missing anyone or have the "kids" out of order; just for the heck of it, I guess.

I'll start with the biggest family I can remember; the children of Bernetta and the late Francis (Chris) Christopherson:

-Paul-Cora-Wade (deceased)-Rita (married to the ISMAY-JOE mayor and was a big part of that whole remaming event that took place a few years ago)-Cameron-Chris-Jerry-Gina (was in my class)-Jan-Kay-Ray-Mary-Eric-Curt-Beth-Bobby-Tina

...I know I'm missing one of them...and I know I'm going to slap myself on the forehead and say DOH! when someone points-out which one I forgot...anyone know?

There was also a ROBERTS family that live or lived in Kinsey - I don't remember how many kids they had, but I think some or all of them were adopted...the only 2 kids whose names I remember are Rick and Clint (about my age).

Of course, there's been a lot of talk here and elsewhere about our local heroic scientist: the late Dr. Maurice Hilleman...the story goes that he was the youngest of 8 kids, but my internet searches have failed to turn-up any of their names. There's mention of his oldest brother who was a monk and helped pay Maurice's way through college, but no names for him or any other sibling that I can find...it would be cool to know their names if anyone knows how to find out?

Holy cow!!! I didn't realize Christophersons had quite that many kids. I knew some of the kids, but not the parents. I suppose in the days of old, it was easy to put that many kids to work on the farm. It must have been very difficult to take care of that many kids without dipping into the welfare system and burdening the taxpayers. Bet those kids learned the value of the dollar early on.

I'll agree the Christophersons know the value of a buck, but they didn't work on a farm - they had a construction business (concrete & sidewalks mostly) and they did well enough to keep everyone sheltered and fed. After the dad passed away from cancer (several of the kids had grown-up and were out on their own by then), I think some of them kept on with the construction business, others went into the restaurant business.

Another big family that comes to mind is the BALDWIN family in Ismay...only problem is I can't think of half their names right now. I'll have to come back later with that.

A: Have the Bonine's, Baldwins, Christopherson's, and Muggli's all hit the church door with 2 minutes to spare before 9:30 mass. (We used to race the Baldwins from the top of governemnt hill.) It happened several times. Amazingly, all of the kids ended up sitting with the with the right family. It was one of those "you had to be there" deals to appreciate the humor of the situation.

I wanted to thank Shu for starting this thread. Some of those names I haven't heard for a long time...since I went to Sacred Heart also, I do remember a lot of them. The Bonine's and the Christopherson's.

It turns-out I had the names and numbers correct on the Christopherson family - there are 17 kids total, Not 18 (I don't want to say ONLY in reference to the number - 17 is still a lot of kids!). For some reason, I could swear they had 18, but I've been wrong before.

RICHARD: you are correct; Wade came before Cora. Other than that, I was right on the order, but I had a couple spellings not quite right, so the correct order goes like this:

...perhaps my being occupied with BIG families is not so much because I, myself, came from a "biggish" family (5 kids - not AS big as the families listed here thus far), but because BOTH of my parents came from 8-child families themselves - and both are middle children.

Khamo and Yemma Pius (from Baghdad, Iraq, though none of their kids live there now..they've all gone elsewhere due to politics and war):-Mikhael (aka "Minashi")-Christina-Aprim (deceased - his family came to Miles City and lived there for a couple years back in the 70's: anyone remember him?)-BASIL-Rafael (deceased)-Mishael (lives with my folks; aka "Kooya")-Melina-Nina

I can't believe that no one has mentioned Dick and Jane Anderson's family. When I think of "big" families, they are one of the first that comes to mind. Not sure if I have the order right, but here goes.